Like her friend Neil Young, Joni Mitchell’s years with Geffen Records wasn’t exactly strewn with joy and happiness. Partly because of her relationship with the label’s main chili cheese, David Geffen, and partly because of her own legacy as a harrowing musical genius, Mitchell was given carte blanche to make records any way she wanted. The fact that Mitchell was more of a feather in Geffen’s cap instead of a powerhouse-selling machine may be why her four records for the company — Wild Things Run Fast (1982), Dog Eat Dog (1985), Chalk Mark In A Rain Storm (1988) and Night Ride Home (1991) — got lost in the shuffle when the company was realigned. Fortunately, the four have been combined into a singular package called The Complete Geffen Recordings.
Say what you will about the singer’s folk and pop forays of the early 70s, but she clearly made some dramatic inroads into more experimental terrain toward the end of the decade — all of which would contribute immensely to the execution behind these four discs. Affixing strains of jazz-fusion and world music to a pop landscape, Mitchell relied on a slew of rock compatriots to help shape her Geffen records. Names like Michael McDonald, Thomas Dolby, Don Henley, James Taylor and Wayne Shorter all turn up on Dog Eat Dog, while Peter Gabriel, Billy Idol, Tom Petty, and Willie Nelson put in appearances on Chalk Mark In A Rain Storm.
Sometimes, the effect is aurally stimulating, especially on cuts like “Ethiopia” or “My Secret Place.” At other times her bid against the grain doesn’t quite pan out, especially with the sheets of synths that overtake the pure quintessence of many of the songs. Still, no one can begrudge Joni Mitchell for following her muse instead of joining the hit parade. It’s why she’s considered one of the most important singer and songwriter of her generation.
~ Shawn Perry
